Grunt
Grunt was a robot that competed in the first series of Robot Wars. Grunt was actually one of three stock robots supplied by the Robot Wars team in order to make up the numbers, as only 33 true contenders had taken part (the other two stock robots being WYSIWYG and Eubank the Mouse). Grunt was driven by the son of Robot Wars judge Eric Dickinson, and had been created by technical consultant Derek Foxwell. As a direct result from this, Grunt was not permitted to pass through the Trial stage. Thereby, after completing the Gauntlet in the second fastest time, it drove straight off the Sumo platform in the Trial. This made it, along with the other Stock Robots very unpopular with others teams, particularly Barry, who was eliminated in the Gauntlet. Design Grunt was a relatively long, thin wedge shaped robot, designed to look like a battleship. It had no active weapons, instead using the wedge shape. It was powered by two 12 volt wheelchair motors, which gave it a high top speed of 15mph. It had a novelty lightbulb on top. Robot History Series 1 In the Gauntlet, Grunt sped out of the turntable straight down the left route, passing Sergeant Bash, but drove straight into Dead Metal. The house robot pushed Grunt back, reversing it into the side railings and holding it there, but Grunt pushed back, and Dead Metal drove forward, allowing Grunt to escape. Grunt swerved around Dead Metal, only for Matilda to trap it against the side wall. Matilda let off the pressure momentarily, which was enough for Grunt to break free, smash through the pipes and reach the end zone. It completed the Gauntlet in the second-quickest time, behind Nemesis. In the Trial, which was Sumo Basho, Grunt swerved away as Shunt closed in, but then drove too close to the edge of the ring, then drove over the side, eliminating it in just 4.15. On television, Matthew Dickinson and Jeremy Clarkson acted as if this was a terrible driving error, when it was actually intentional - as a stock robot, Grunt was not permitted to pass the Trial stage. Results |} Series Record Outside Robot Wars grunt us open.png|Grunt during the UK Open 2Grunts.jpg|The two Grunts in the 1995 UK Open grunt vs la machine.png|Grunt fighting La Machine grunt vs the master.png|One Grunt cluster overturned by La Machine as the other fights The Master La machine vs grunt OOtA.png|Grunt is slammed out of the arena by La Machine Charityview1.jpg|Grunt with Panic Attack at a charity event Originally, two identical versions of Grunt were built, both of which took part in the 1995 UK Open Competition. At various stages throughout the competition, each version fought fellow Stock Robot Eubank the Mouse as well as established US Robot Wars competitors The Master and La Machine. Trivia *Likely an error, Grunt was listed as a heavyweight, despite being a middleweight. *Grunt is one of 20 robots never to fight in robot combat, having only ever been in the Gauntlet or Trial. *Grunt is one of 23 robots to have completed The Gauntlet, and was the first non-heavyweight and first weaponless robot to do so. *Of the three roboteers that controlled the stock robots in Series 1, Matthew Dickinson was the only one not to compete with genuine competitors in later series. Category:UK Series competitors Category:Stock Robots Category:Middleweights Category:Weaponless Robots Category:Robots to complete the Gauntlet Category:Robots that only lost in the Gauntlet or Trial Category:Robots which debuted in Series 1 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 1